The Suggestion Box
by Little Boy of Lothering
Summary: A series of SasuSaku stories suggested by the readers.  Story Seven: "Pretend" - Team Seven spends time in the Wave Country, chilling at the beach and buying fruity drinks.
1. Pancakes and Sleet

Hi, people! This is the suggestion thingy I said with Sakura and Sasuke stories. Suggestion format can be found in the author's note of Understanding. And, here's the first, I guess:

Suggestion From: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Setting: AU, high school

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Prompt: umbrella, owl, email, arrow, Hello Kitty, ice cream

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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"Pancakes and Sleet"

"Sasuke? What're you doing here?"

Sakura finds him under a street lamp in the end of March, staring down at his beat up Converse with a frown on his face that looks a lot sadder than his usual relatively indifferent expression. His hands are stuffed in his pockets, a wool hat on his head, the black jacket he wears too thin for the sleet-rain. After a short inspection, she confirms his lack of umbrella. When she speaks, he looks up to her, exhaustion etched into his face. They both share the same best friend and are therefore friends by necessity, and she realizes how little she really knows about him.

As he withdraws his gaze back to his shoes, he says, "I'm waiting for Itachi."

Her brow creases in confusion because Itachi does not seem like the type of person to leave his sixteen-year-old brother out in weather like this. "Is he late?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"By how long?"

"'Bout three hours. And my cell phone's broken - but you know that."

With a sigh, she holds out her hand for him to take. He looks at it and does nothing. She tells him, "You're coming with me. I bought myself a car with the birthday money I got. It's a piece of shit, but whatever."

"But I told Itachi I'd wait here."

His heart isn't in it, though, she sees and he accepts the hand anyway. He stands there shaking so she gets closer, holding her umbrella a little higher to cover both of them. Her heartbeat doesn't speed up at all. "I haven't been to your house in a while," she says, and their shoes squeak and splash in the dirty sleet that lines the sidewalk, "so you'll have to direct me."

The boy next to her shifts uncomfortably and somewhere in the distance an owl hoots sadly. "That's the thing," he says, and reaches up to fix his hat. He is sopping wet and the chance of him coming to school on Monday seems slim, she thinks. "I can't find my key anywhere. Itachi said he'd pick me up this morning at three."

"Well, then you'll just have to come home with me." His compliance with this is worrying. "You can use my cell in the car."

"Okay."

They walk close together in silence, sleet-rain coming down hard around them and there is a seventy-three percent chance of snow by midnight, the weather man says. Sakura's car sits lonely in the senior parking lot, bought for eight hundred dollars with birthday money and a month's worth of wages and will need twice that in repairs if she doesn't take good care of it. She has been seventeen for two days, and is horribly afraid of crashing. It takes three tries for the keys to open the door, but the heat click on and the car starts on the first try. Small miracles where she can get them.

Once she is situated, she pulls his phone from her pocket and tosses it to him without looking, knowing that the running back of the football team is unlikely to miss. "The code to unlock it is three-seven-three-seven," she says, putting the car in reverse and craning her small body back to see behind her, her height and the sleet-rain making her life difficult.

"_Hello __Kitty_?"

She winces as she makes her final point of the K-turn, having forgotten her background was so childish and wishing that she had remembered to change it yesterday because having _Uchiha Sasuke _see it is more than just a little humiliating. "My cousin," she mumbles, and hopes that is enough of an answer. It seems to be, and her ears pick up the sound of ringing. A thin-sounding voice comes over the other end suddenly, followed by a short laugh. This is not going to have a good outcome, she thinks.

"Itachi?" says Sasuke in a smaller voice than she expects, and tries not to listen, an attempt made impossible by their close proximity. "It's me...Yeah, you said you'd - Oh...Well, I'm heading to Sakura's, you remember Sakura, right? Yeah, Naruto's friend. Pink hair. Itachi! So, um, yeah, about picking me - Okay. Um. Give me a moment." He moves the phone away from his mouth and looks at her warily and asks, "What's your address? And, uh, can I stay for around an hour maybe?"

She shrugs, not particularly caring and thinking that with a shared best friend, he should not have to ask her address. "Seven Ichiraku," she says. "Right off of Sacagwa."

He repeats this, pauses, and says, "Yeah. I know. Tell Mom I'll shoot him the email when I get - Oh, c'mon, really? It was for spell -" He cuts off and sighs and Sakura has never heard him argue with anyone other than Naruto before. "Bye. See you in an hour...No. Um, you aren't going to for - Okay. Just thought I'd - Yeah, an hour. Bye."

He hangs up and puts her phone back into the cup holder and cross his arms, seeming more self-conscious than she's used to because he is always so confident around her and everyone and maybe Naruto sees this and never explained it to her before. She runs her fingers through her hair and stops at an intersection. The stop light makes his black eyes look red, and she waits for the green arrow to appear, indicating she can take a left and she hates this intersection even more than the junction by DMV.

"Sorry about that," he says after a long moment, and though the heat is working better than usual, he's still shivering. "Great, and now I'm getting your seat wet."

"Like I said, the car's horrible anyway." The light turns green and when she turns Sasuke's eyes go back to back. "And don't worry, if he's late again you can stay as long as you need, or I can drive you to Naruto's. Doubt he'd care."

Sasuke makes a sound like a humorless snicker, if that's at all possible. She lives much too far away from the school, she thinks. "Yeah," he says. "I've crashed on his couch so many times that Minato's told me to call him Dad by this point."

"_What_?"

Around the bridge of his nose turns a light pink and she realizes he assumed she knew and this is all sorts of embarrassing. "Oh. I thought Naruto mentioned it."

She shakes her head, confused and concerned and what the fuck was that. Though she and Naruto have been friends since they were kids, she cannot for the life of her recall that slip of information ever coming up in conversation.

"Well, um -"

"Yeah."

There is an awkward silence and Sakura shifts in her seat, uncomfortable. She turns onto her street, avoiding the pot hole she knows is there, and eventually says, "I can make you something to eat if you'd like. If Itachi isn't here in two hours, call Naruto. He should be back by then."

"He will be." They exit, leaving the warmth of the car behind them, and she slides her phone in her pocket, mind drawing her back again to her embarrassing wallpaper and cursing her ten-year-old cousin for having an obsession with the definition of all things girly. "Sorry. I should've just walked."

Though she has been to his house once, she remembers the bridge that needs to be crossed to get there and has a fleeting image of having to walk on the edge with cars driving past and thinks that is a very good thing he didn't go by foot. "Don't worry about it," she repeats and opens her front door, unlocked as usual. Inside is warm and smells of cleaning chemicals because her mother is obsessive. "Come one, let's go raid my fridge. Get hot chocolate or pasta or ice cream or something."

"Sakura, it's thirty-three degrees outside."

"So?"

"You said ice cream."

She shrugs and slips off her shoes in the entrance way, not wanting to deal with her mom's freak out if she tracked dirt on the floor and Sasuke follows her example. She has been alone with this boy once from what she can remember, and she was eleven with the biggest crush on him imaginable, so she is unsure how to act. How horribly miserable he seems is not helping this.

"I drink lemonade on snowy days," she says, leading him into the pristine kitchen her mother slaves at three times a week without fail. "I bet you're all normal or something."

"I live off water and coffee all year."

"That's boring, Sasuke."

She plops her bag down on one of the island chairs and opens her refrigerator, peering inside. A half-eaten _Hello Kitty _vanilla cake sits on the middle shelf, a left over from her cousin's birthday dinner that Sakura had to sit through, counting down the clock until everyone went to bed and she could safely sneak from the house to Naruto's because at seventeen, doing anything family is torture. She chews on her thumb nail and looks around, discovering nothing of interest, and shuts the door to go rifling through the cabinets instead, not expecting anything there either because it is her job to go food shopping now.

She asks, "Do you want to throw your clothes in the wash? I have some of Naruto's pajamas here and I bet he won't care if you wear them."

He makes no comment about why she has a boy's pajamas and she freezes, wondering if he was told of the martini incident and hopes that he's still in dark about it. "Sure," he says, and from the depression in the voice she thinks that he may not be fully taking in her words, and she will be so happy if it's only that. "Um, your room's third door on the left, right?"

"Yeah. Top drawer of the dresser, _Teenage Mutant Ninja __Turtles_, I think." She runs her fingers through her wet hair as she discovers pancake mix and decides she wants that. There's the scrape of a chair and footsteps down the hall. She calls, "Do you mind strawberry pancakes?"

"No!" comes the muffled answer and she gets to cooking, glad it takes three minutes and wondering if she has syrup because it must be a sin to have pancakes without any.

There are arrows pointing every which direction on the box, and she thinks of the intersection and his eyes in the light and video game controllers propped in front of the N64 she refuses to give to her cousin. Her hair is wet and she needs to be careful not to get it in the batter, and the email Sasuke needs to send must have something to do with Mr. M if it has to involve getting off spelling, though he has got a ninety eight even with that, if she remembers correctly, so maybe it has to do with English instead, though she can't imagine Mr. Hatake caring. Her cell phone rings the cliched Beethoven's The Fifth and she ignores it, unwilling to hear her mother's screeching banshee voice.

Outside an owl hoots again, melancholy and muffled in the pelting sleet-rain, and Sasuke reenters the kitchen, wearing Naruto's _TMNT_ flannel pants and Pikachu shirt and he looks all sorts of out of place. She smiles privately to herself and turns away to take out her obscenely large frying pan. "Laundry room's right across from mine," she tells him, pulling out the pan with only slight difficult which is an improvement from Saturday. "The door's kind of broken, so push it but don't slam. Turn the dial to the right until the arrow hits the seven and press down."

"Okay," he says and there goes the sounds of footsteps again. She cuts a piece of butter and throws it in the pan before setting the flame. He comes back and she pours the first circle, chewing again on her thumb nail as she contemplates how long this will take without burning it. The box gives no instructions by way of time. "Thanks," he says, though he's a boy so of course it is more of a mumble.

"Don't worry about it," she answers, waving her hand and wonders why they have never done this before. She got over that stupid crush years ago, she tells herself, so being just friends is fine by her. They haven't been avoiding each other because of the truth or dare game at Naruto's birthday party when they were eleven, because in nine years they've both matured. So she tells herself. "So where's your brother? If you don't mind me asking."

"My parents dragged him out and he couldn't find a way to reach me," he says and there's a scowl in his voice. "Tomorrow he goes back out to school. And naturally it just _had _to be today. I have a feeling they didn't tell him because he originally said he'd go to my game and he wouldn't have canceled. I think."

"Considering that your brother skipped out on his high school graduation to go to your middle school one, I doubt it," she says, grabbing a plate from the cabinet above the stove. She turns around, only to see him staring at her in confusion, and this seems to be a day made of confusion so it isn't too surprising. "What?"

"How do you remember that?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I just have a good memory, I guess." And she does _not_ remember things specifically having to do with him any clearer than she does with other people. "Hey, did we have English homework?"

"Journal-analysis on _Jane Eyre_." She wants to whack her head against the counter because she hates that book for reasons she cannot place, which makes journaling annoyingly difficult. Then he asks, "Have you started yet?"

"No."

"If you do the last half, I'll do the first half and we can swap."

"You cheat?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, sure."

Like Sasuke, she's never cheated before because she never has had to, but she supposes there is a first for everything. She flips her first pancake and takes a glance back at him and he looks so depressed it's heartbreaking. Maybe she should have offered a shower too, just like maybe he will show up on Monday because he has never been absent from what she can remember, even when his fever is much too high. So Naruto says.

She says, "If you ever get stranded at school again, just give me a call. When you get a new cell phone, I mean."

"My parents gave me some money," he says and she flips off all the pancakes of varying sizes because a single frying pan should not be able to make twelve at once, "so I'm going out to go get it tomorrow. If the weather's good enough for me to walk down to the bus stop."

"Bus stop?"

"The one by the florist's. Know which ones I mean?"

Though it probably isn't good for her hands, she carries over the hot plate without oven-mitts, too lazy to look for them. As she places the plate on the middle of the island, she answers, "Yeah, 'course. Why don't you just drive?"

"I'm sixteen, remember?" She turns around again, taking out two more plates and forks and syrup from the fridge, covering the inside from view so that Sasuke cannot not possibly get a glimpse at the cake that matches the background on her phone. She should really get about changing that. "I guess I could ask Naruto if his parents could lend him one of their cars. Doubt it, though."

"We can all go if you like." She sits down across from me. "I mean, think about it, when's the last time we hung out the three of us?"

"About a year ago."

That sounds about right, and the length of time has nothing to do with the crush she got over years ago, of course. "Do you want to?" she asks and he gives half a shrug before nodding. "And seriously, take some pancakes. I can't eat them on my own and I bet your hungry."

They each take four and Sakura lets him have the syrup first because guys are always hungry and they share an early lunch. When he eats, he more picks, and whatever is going on must not be a recent problem.

"Do you have a junior formal date?" he asks suddenly. She shakes her head and in the laundry room, the dryer stops, the humming abruptly silencing. "What to come with me?"

And she totally got over that crush years ago, she tells herself. "Sure," she answers with a shrug. "It's like a month away and I haven't exactly tried looking for a date yet."

"Same." He nibbles, though he doesn't look disgusted by it. "A few girls have asked me and all, but I don't know, I guess I just didn't feel like it until now."

"Then I guess I feel special." They eat in silence, though it is not an uncomfortable one. When they finish, she says, "Hey, Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

He freezes. "What do you mean?" he asks.

She feels her face get hot and maybe she should mind her own business, though he looks about as down as Lee used to look when he asked her out every other week and she always said no. An owl hoots outside the window. She answers, "You were left on your own in this weather -" She motions in the direction of the window. "- because your parents brought out Itachi knowing they couldn't reach you and you _still _have to wait an hour. That doesn't exactly seem okay."

But Sasuke is a boy, and a typical one at that, so he does not like talking about his feelings and this annoys her to no end. It makes communication difficult. He sinks into the chair a little, and they appear on par in levels of embarrassment now.

"Everything'll be fine," he says. "My family's just really, um, big into intelligence and everything, so I let them down a lot -"

"Sasuke, you have a four point oh GPA."

"- and when Itachi comes home from college, they want to hear all about everything and whatnot and you know, by this point it doesn't seem like I'll be able to get into Harvard like I want to -"

"_You _want to, or your parents want to?"

"- because my SAT scores were only a twenty-three-forty so -"

"Sasuke, shut up."

He shuts up, and the bridge of his nose is red and he's just so damn perfect that the thought of anyone not being proud of him is insane. He mumbles, "Itachi said I should just do what I feel like."

"And what's that?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

"Go to U Penn."

"Then go to U Penn."

"My parents won't pay."

"Then get a scholarship."

"I guess."

"Do you still want to go to formal with me, Sasuke?"

"Yes."

A car pulls up outside and the headlights shine through and his eyes seem red again. When her cell phone goes off with the generic ringtone, she hands it to him without looking at the number. "Hey," he says, running his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, coming out. I just have to grab my clothes from - Itachi! Heh. Yeah. So, give me like a minute. Kay. Bye."

He hangs up and hands it back to her, the bridge nose somehow redder than before and she can only imagine what his brother said.

"Pull hard to get it open," she says, clearing off their dishes, "and spin the dial back so the arrow points to the zero. You can leave Naruto's clothes on the floor."

"Um, thanks," he says, and disappears. A minute later he returns, slipping back on the jacket that is much to light for this weather and sends her an awkward smile. "So, um, call Naruto I guess. About the mall thing, I mean."

"Sure." She smiles back and hers is not awkward at all because she is with Uchiha Sasuke and just ate pancakes and she got over that crush years ago, of course. "I'll pick you up at two."

She walks him to the door like the good little hostess she is and when she opens the door, the hooting of the owl is much louder than she expects. He says, "Bye. Thanks."

"Bye, Sasuke," she answers as she pretends that she does not wish he could stay any longer. "We should do this again some time."

"Yeah."

He leaves, and she shuts the door gently behind him.

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Okay, so this is my second story that has to do with bad parent-child relationships. What the hell?


	2. In This Valley of Dying Stars

Hi! Back with another one already. ^^ Hopefully people will like this one too, but this is based on the actual historical actions of the time period and not the romanticized one because I'm a history major and accuracy is how I roll. =] By the way, I also LOVE this one because I'm a history nerd (obviously). Title shamelessly stolen from Eliot's "The Hollow Men."

Suggestion From: Anamoose

Setting: AU, 1920s Paris

Genre/Theme: Romance/Indifference

Prompt: End with the words, "back to back."

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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"In this Valley of Dying Stars"

During the day Sasuke holds a job, unlike most of them, and afterwards he visits smokey bars and out door cafes. Some nights he writes, though most of the time the writing is crap and he goes off wandering instead. He came to Paris at nineteen, running from America three months after returning from the war and though he has a job and friends, he still feels aimless in his life, lost on the streets of Paris that he's memorized. There's a girl too, whose name is Sakura and was once a nurse in the war and now lives pay check to pay check from Le Cafe de Chat she works at five days a week. They're together, for lack of a better word, but not in love. Both are a little to broken for that.

On a Tuesday in May she shows up at his flat a little past two in morning, not quite tipsy and not quite sober, with a felt hat on her short pink hair. She's still dressed in her day clothes with a short yellow dress down to her knees and a tweed jacket that falls half an inch longer. He stands fractured in the doorway in nothing but a pair of slacks, confused in his sleepless daze.

"I don't like getting all bent in public," she says, letting herself in, "and Kankura ordered another around." He shuts the door behind her, and she gives him a kiss. "Oh, you look awful!"

"I'm tired," he answers, annoyed, and it's true. Next door comes a sudden cry of, "_Mon oeil!_" only to be abruptly silenced moment later with loud, sober laughter. "You woke me up."

She laughs, but it's humorless and maybe even a little sad. "You don't sleep, Sasuke," she says, adjusting the hat on her head in the mirror. When they speak, they rarely look at each other. He can't bring himself to care. Maybe he should write a poem about that - the apathy. It was an effect of shell shock, he was told, they all had it. Sakura sighs. "Then again, neither do I."

He walks up behind her and hugs her around the middle, kissing the back of her neck. They don't love each other, but being with her keeps him from drifting too far. And maybe that _is_ love, in its own way, but he'll never tell her this. There's no point in it.

She says, "Have a drink with me."

He doesn't answer, but walks to the kitchenette where he takes a bottle of red wine and two cups. She follows, silent with her steps on the normally creaking wood. They both are, even if it defies all logic. The wine splashes a little on the counter, and he notices without caring that his hands are shaking.

"Have you written anything recently?" she asks, sitting down at the small table and taking a sip when he places the glass in front of her. They're going to be drunk by the end of this. He nods absentmindedly, spinning the glass between his hands. His insomnia is getting worse, and behind his eyes a headache starts growing. As a kid, he never got headaches. Now he gets them frequently and blames the injury he got in the war. It's easy to blame things on the war. "Really? Can I see?"

He shrugs and drains his glass and thinks he really needs to stop all these drinking. Tomorrow he has work and he can't remember his French well with a hang over. A moan comes from next door, and this'll be another long night. The problem with having a room next to two people who enjoy sex way too much. "Do whatever," he says, but neither stands to get the paper. In truth, he hasn't written anything because every time the fountain pen comes to his hand all he can think of is the war. Other men write about the war, but he doesn't want to remember it. How unfortunate that his mind doesn't like to listen.

"You can recite them," she says, looking at him with bright green eyes, "like you did when we went to Norway."

"We went to Noway?" Insomnia causes confusion, or maybe it just amplifies it because he's almost always confused. "No we didn't go there. That was Finland."

"No, it was Norway," she answers. "That was Norway, Sasuke."

"Finland," he repeats. "It was definitely Findland."

She worries her bottom lip and even after knowing she was anxious about everything, the face still makes him weary. "Sasuke," she says, "you said it was Norway when we talked about it last week. Don't you remember?" He shakes head. "Oh, Sasuke..."

"Did we go to both?"

"No, just Noway. You said you liked Oslo and I agreed."

He remembers this vaguely, and feels like he shouldn't be so indifferent to this sudden forgetfulness. He wonders what Kakashi would say, but then shakes the thought away. It's not like he can ask him anyway. Like so many others, his commanding officer died in the war. So did most of his friends, and he was left alone. Well, except Sakura and the men he met with now, but they weren't the ones he grew up with. That counts for something.

Suddenly Sakura says, "I want to go back."

"To Fin - Norway?"

"No, America."

He pauses, hand reaching towards the bottle, and his confusion increases. "_Why_?" he asks. "You know there's a Prohibition going on, right? As of last month? And that the president plays with quiffs in the White House? I mean, Christ, Sakura. There's nothing there."

Her eyes suddenly look shiny, and he realizes she's about to cry. Maybe she's a little drunk. Usually she's happy when drunk, but late at night she has her sad moments.

"You aren't going to leave, right?" she asks suddenly, taking him by surprise. She never gave an indication of caring before. Again, he shrugs, and looks away towards the glass in his hand. He doesn't want to go to work with a hang over tomorrow. "Right?"

"Sounds like you're the one who's talking about leaving," he answers mildly and he's reminded of the war after his injury, as he lay in the infirmary with her as his nurse, making him whole again with shaking hands. This is a relationship that's beenb doomed from the start.

She says, "You have haven't been writing, have you?"

"Sometimes."

"I know that face. What's wrong?"

It's something like two thirty in the morning and he doesn't want to deal with this at all. She does something to his head that he doesn't appreciate, making it like he wants to leave but doesn't at the same time. He might not love her, but there's still something. There's always something. "There're just some things I can't do," he says, "and that's all I can think about."

She looks at him anxiously. "The shell shock's getting bad again, isn't it?"

"Maybe."

He has a horrible habit of not quite lying, but not quite telling the truth. Both of them have seen too much for only being in their early twenties, but he's seen more and the effects are awful. Maybe if he hadn't seen his commanding officer - his friend - die next to him, if he hadn't seen people drown to death by liquid in their lungs, if he hadn't been right there when the shell exploded, starved already with his arm fractured so he couldn't dodge right, if his family had noticed how utterly _off _he was, then maybe -

Sakura sighs and drinks the rest of her wine and now there're real tears on her face. "You should tell someone this," she says.

"Who?" he asks.

"Me."

"Why?"

"Who else do you have?"

She makes a good case, and he doesn't know what to say. With a sigh of his own, he stands up and grabs the cups, not wanting to get drunk tonight and thinking she probably won't either. She stands too and hugs him from behind, kissing his shoulder. She says, "I worry about you."

"I know."

"I don't think you do."

"You don't have to.

"My free will is pretty limited when it comes to emotions, you know." She takes off her hat and runs her fingers through her short pink hair. Yes, they did go to Norway, he suddenly remembers. Oslo really was a nice city. Better than Paris, anyway, or at least to him. "If I go back," she asks, "will you come with me?"

"Back where?"

"America."

Oh. Yeah. That. He wants to sleep, but can't, and his mind can't seem to process information correctly. "Maybe," he answers.

"Is that your answer for everything?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, now you're just doing it to be annoying."

"Maybe."

She hits him lightly on the arm, and he sends a thin sort of smile. He turns around and gives her a kiss. Maybe they do love each other, just a little, though neither can ever be fixed. Still, that isn't enough to carry him to America with her, if she goes at all, which he doubts. She's about as much of an expatriate as he is, though not as stupid. That was what Jiraiya called him and Naruto - stupid. They can't write for shit because they don't know what they care about anymore and they don't try hard at anything except sleeping with gals and drinking. Unfortunately, he's inclined to agree. He's a genius in most things, but he was dumb in common sense. He should've gone to Harvard like he planned, not joined a war that went towards a cause he couldn't for the life of him understand. European nationalism, he thinks, and America just got involved because the English and the French got in deeper than they thought and needed someone to bail them out.

Not that it matters, he decides. Fuck politics anyway and fuck Wilson and fuck Warren Harding. Politicians running politics was just turning the world bad. Or maybe this is the alcohol talking. Though only twenty-one, he already had the bitterness of an old Russian peasant in Siberia, so says Konohamaru, the son of one of the military's leading officers who never fought a day in his life. Naruto loves that kid for one reason or another. Maybe he shouldn't have put away that wine.

"Sakura," he says, kissing her again. She tasted like champagne, wine, and croissants. "I'm going to bed. I need to try to sleep."

"I'll join you," she says.

They lie together for a while, and when they finally sleep, they face away from each other, back to back.

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Sorry for the weak ending. Leave suggestions in the review. :)


	3. Idle Conversations

Hi guys! I have a feeling not many people liked the last one because it was historical, but eh, whatever. Hopefully this one'll be better. Also, how the hell is it possible to have four reviews and _two hundred and six favorites/__followers_? I'm extremely confused. Oh, and the phone bit I got from one of the Shippuden openings.

Suggestion From: Color Me Yellow

Setting: AU, Understanding

Genre: General

Prompt: living together, random day

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Warning: Completely shameless fluff. Hope you like the fluffiness, CMY.

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"Idle Conversation"

Sakura comes home earlier and more tired than usual because working nonstop for sixteen hours is horrible for a person in just every way, though is in no way a bad thing because helping people get better is a wonderful thing. Still, all she wants do is -

"Hey, Sakura!" comes a voice from the living room, a voice with the closest hint of panic that she will ever hear coming from her roommate. "Is that you?"

Sighing, she rubs one eye like a child and walks in and does not like the way Sasuke is holding his arm and staring down at it with slightly widened eyes. He is obviously hurt, she thinks, and thankfully her chakra capacity has grown or she might pass out before ever being able to help him. "What happened?" she asks, dropping bag by the couch and walking over. His wrist was already reset, which is good for her, but one look at it and she can tell the break is bad.

"Training," he answers and she focuses chakra in her hands before placing them over his wrist. She does not miss his wince and feels guilty because hurting him in any way has never been a particularly good feeling. "I think I'm coming down with something because I don't normally let Kakashi-sensei hurt me this bad, but he managed to grab my arm and somehow when I fell my wrist just sort of snapped and neither of us really know how to -"

"Sasuke," she says bluntly, "shut up."

He does so immediately and she has never seen him get this worked up about anything, though she can give him a free pass on it, she thinks, because all eight bones are badly shattered. Discreetly she checks his eyes, but they are not bloodshot in the slightest, so at least he didn't cry. After five minutes - longer than usual because of the severity - his wrist is back is back to normal. She takes her hands away and he twists his wrist a few directions and she does not miss that thinly veiled look of relief on his face.

"I think this is from the poison," she tells him, pressing her palm to her eyes because that succeeded in making her even more tired. She stands, and flops down next to him on the couch, trying to shake away the dizzy feeling. "Remember what Tsunade-sama said?"

He looks away from his wrist to her and drags her closer and hopefully he misses the blush that comes to her face. She uses his shoulder as a head rests and for a fleeting moment pretends he does this because they're dating and not because the pillows on the couch are uncomfortably hard. Tomorrow she is going out and buying new ones, she thinks. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah. Being told it'll affect me for a year is a little hard to forget, Sakura."

"Never said it wasn't." She yawns, automatically covering her mouth because young ladies are always supposed to be polite, her mother taught her. There is a headache behind her eyes. Then she realizes something and looks up to him, confused, and even eight terribly shattered bones is not something that should drive Uchiha Sasuke to minor panic. He is a little too averse to showing emotion for that. "Wait - haven't you ever broken an arm before?"

His eyes dart away from her and focus instead on a water stain on the wall, created by leaking pipes that they

really need to fix. "Not since I was six," he says awkwardly, though she thinks never breaking a limb in eight years is something to be proud of rather than get uncomfortable over.

"You've been training since you were five and you've broken an arm_ once_?" she asks, unsure whether she should be surprised by this or not. "How'd you managed that one?"

"Luck?"

"For a genius with limited emotional capacity, you seriously suck a lying, Sasuke-kun."

He sighs and she snuggles up against him, using this time to act as mushy as she wants without him commenting because moments like this are always nice. Since she loves him and is not simply infatuated, her feelings have not lessened in reaction to his gradual personality change. Hard to get had never been much of an attraction for her, she thinks.

Though he mumbles, she clearly hears, "My dad broke my arm during training to try to motivate me into, um, trying harder."

A short silence falls. Then she says, "Wow. And I thought _my_ parents were bad."

"Well, he had a point," Sasuke says quickly and it is moments like this when she wonders why he was going to go through such lengths to avenge them, though she will never say this. "I mean, I was already six and really wasn't up to my clan's standards because I wasn't concentrating as much as I shoul -"

She reaches up and slaps a hand over his mouth because no matter how hard he tries to defend them, the more she hears about his family the more she thinks that they don't deserve it because someone as young as he was does not need to be treated like that. Though she knows that clans tend to be harsh to their family members at early ages, she is pretty sure breaking a six-year-old's arm transcends training and falls into the physical abuse category. As a medical-nin, she sees abuse more than she would like, physical and mental and emotional. Blatant favoritism counts in her mind, too, and his family really was made of horrible people, she thinks. Over the past few months, she has learned a lot about him and his childhood and none of it sounds good.

No wonder he's such a messed up kid.

When she lowers her hand, she asks, "Do we need more food?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, wonderful."

"I meant to go today."

Again, she rubs one eye. She needs some food in her stomach and some sleep before tomorrow morning, and he does too, but since she doesn't feel like going grocery shopping, she doubts he does either. "Let's order take-out," she says with another yawn. "Ichiraku delivers Tuesdays, right?"

"I think it's Thursdays they don't." He slips away from her without warning and she slips so she lies down, and thinks that he is a lot more comfortable. As she sits up, he asks, "What do you want?"

"The usual."

He disappears into the kitchen where their phone is located and after a few moments she hears him ordering. She smiles slightly to herself and thinks that miso sounds pretty good right about now. Miso soup and tamago sushi. Heaven after a hectic day like this one.

"Fifteen minutes," says Sasuke, reappearing in front of her, silent like all shinobi. He sits back down to where he was before and though she is not invited to do so, she snuggles up against him anyway. "So what happened with you today? You look beat."

"We were understaffed and got a rush," she answers, wanting to shut her eyes but not wanting to sleep until she manages to eat. "A group of chuunin somehow managed to hit a pressure alarm which is pretty much a genin level mistake and apparently there was an explosion involved or something and then Ino's team managed to mess something up, so Chouji got injured and I don't know, it was a total mess. I feel like some days I have no work at all then something like this happens and it just sucks so much. I bet Tsunade-sama did it on purpose or something too as like a test. I hope twelve people in sixteen hours is good enough for her."

"What's your average?" he asks and she shrugs because though she probably should, Sakura never bothers keeping track of anything. "Whatever. I bet twelve in sixteen is pretty good."

"God, I hope so." Suddenly she's scowling. "Tsunade-sama said I can't go on a real mission until I impress her, whatever that means."

"I'm not allowed on a mission until I'm considered well enough," he says and there is a scowl in his voice too.

"Yeah, well at least that makes sense."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Even though Tsunade managed to remove everything, she couldn't entirely cure him and Sasuke's recovery time is lengthy. Though she never says it, this worries her because there is a small, irrational fear that he will never get better. His bone density was lowered, and it was no real surprise that he broke anything. But the year was almost up and hopefully by then they could start working together again because being confined to Konoha for this long was driving both of them crazy, especially since they were both chuunin already.

"How long did you wait here with your arm broken?" she asks.

"About an hour," he answers and takes another glance down at his wrist.

"You could've come to the hospital," she says.

"I hate hospitals," he says, and she supposes that even geniuses could be childish so this is also no surprise. "And I already need to go back in two months for that possible last check up. Which means that maybe in two months we'll finally be able to get out of here and do things."

She frowns. "Yeah, if I _ever _manage to impress Tsunade-sama. It isn't easy, you know. I've never even landed a hit on her before! And all she ever does is taunt me the more I miss. I've seriously gotten one attack on her and it was genjutsu which is, according to her, the only thing I have the remote possibility of getting better than her in and even that she said mockingly. I mean, _ugh._"

"Kakashi-sensei can be like that too," he says and complaining feels awesome. One thing all shinobi have in common is the ability to bitch about their mentors and teammates for one thing or the other because catharsis had to happen somehow. Hearing someone else's problems was a pretty good way to do it, too, she found. "This week's been the first time in a while that he couldn't read while we were sparring and today was the first time all week that he didn't tell how he was going easy on me _after _he beat me, and I think that was just because he felt bad for breaking my wrist, which I'm pretty sure is an insult in and of itself."

"At least he had the decency to feel bad about it." She sits up, pulling away from him and crosses her arms. "Two days ago Tsunade-sama broke all of my ribs and said I had to suck it up when I couldn't stand up! And she got all exasperated because I stopped to heal them all. It wasn't _my _fault I didn't want to get bits of bone in my lungs. I want to bet her at gambling or something just so I can see her lose."

Sasuke laughs, and she loves that sound so much. "You suck a poker too," he says, mocking and she cannot find it in her to get annoyed all. "I mean, you suck at keeping a straight face."

"Yeah, well anyone's good compared to her," she answers, rolling her eyes. "Apparently Shizune has never seen someone so consistently fail. I should totally do it and the bet should be that she can't drink sake for a week or something. Love to see how that one goes down."

"I can't think of anything Kakashi-sensei's bad it to even imagine something like that." He crosses his arms too, and they make the perfect picture of teenage indignation. All need is Naruto here to start complaining about Jiraiya and the moment would be complete.

"That's because he can do anything," she says and it is not meant as a compliment at the moment. Everyone needs to be bad at something and they have yet to find out his. "I mean, he has to have a weak point, right?"

"We'll keep an eye out for it next mission we go on," he says and she nods decisively in agreement. Stupid Kakashi-sensei and his perfectness. "He -"

Sasuke is broken off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. She stands up and headed for the front door, stumbling right before she reaches it and hoping so hard that he missed it. When she opens the door, Konohamaru and his team's annoyed faces greet her and the fact that they are her delivery kids for today is absolutely hilarious. Two years ago that was her doing all the infuriating simple D-rank missions that the Hokage threw at them.

She ruffles Konohamaru's hair, embarrassing him in front of his team as revenge for all the comments about her and Naruto dating and takes the food from his hands. His teammates stand in the back, snickering. "Aw_, _thank you, Konohamaru-_chan_," she gushes and the reddening of his cheeks is satisfying after her very long day. Normally she makes it her goal to be a genuinely nice person, but everyone has their moments.

She expects forced politeness or a sorry attempt at a witty retort, but instead he asks, "Sakura-san, do you know when Naruto's getting back?"

Her smile falters a little. "I'm sorry," she says, suddenly feeling terrible for the moment before and thinking that he probably asked this on purpose. He looks crestfallen and even younger than twelve. "Hey, when he comes back I'll send him your way immediately, okay?"

"Okay," he says miserably. "Bye, Sakura-san." And he shuts the door.

Before she can feel too sad, though, she catches the smell of miso soup, all wonderful and hot and mostly wonderful and is smiling happily when she reenters the living room, placing it down on the table. "Guess who the delivery boy was," she says, sitting on the floor. Sasuke gets off the couch and sits on the floor of the other side because both are much too lazy at the moment to head to the kitchen. He shrugs, so she says, "Konohamaru and his team of misfit twelve-year-olds! He still looks about ten, though."

"We were like that not too long ago," Sasuke says as they open all their boxes and she still catches that slight smile on his face. "Remember that kid in our class? She was one of the people who didn't pass the test. Her name was Ai or something."

"Tachibana Aiko!" As a kid, Aiko was one of the people who made fun of her forehead, as well as one of Sasuke's fangirls and even once they were in the academy, Sakura spent most of her time dodging her and pretending not hear snide comments. "I completely forgot about her."

"Obviously I did too," says Sasuke as they snap their chopsticks and begin their dinner that is as good as usual. "She looked like she was nine. I thought she was younger than all of us for years until I found I was the youngest in our year."

"By two months," she says and after a few bites, she already feels better. "Well, now four I guess. Whatever, you're right though. Have you seen her at all recently? I haven't."

"Neither have I."

"I bet she quit."

"Wouldn't surprise me."

They eat in silence for a while and Sakura feels herself becoming more and more exhausted as she begins to digest because miso soup can cure any malady in world. After a bit, she says, "When does Kakashi-sensei want you to meet him tomorrow?"

"Five," he answers, "which means more like seven. I can go food shopping and get there 'on time' if that's what you're asking."

"Yeah, pretty much." She feels comfortably tired and outside the sun begins to sink low in the sky until only a bluish tint remains. "Tsunade-sama wants me in at four again. I think I get out around six, though, which is pretty awesome."

"Kakashi-sensei has something planned," he says, "which means I'll be back at one in morning, if lucky."

"I'll make you dinner," she tells him as she finishes because she always eats faster than he does. "Get something you like and leave me a note."

He nods and finishes too and she clears off the table before he can protest, carrying their garbage over to the kitchen where she throws it out. They have no real routine in their day, except for the cleaning schedule she made up, and she thinks it's better this way.

"You should go to bed," he says. "At least you'll be able to get in some sleep before you get up tomorrow."

Normally she hates going to bed before ten because it feels childish, but today was hectic and she finds herself inclined to agree. "You too," she says and she's already heading off to the washroom so she can take a shower to wash off the day. Dry blood is crusted under her fingernails and her hair is sticking out in all directions and she feels gross. In the kitchen, she hears the sink turn on and thinks that in these past few months have been the best in her life and all because of the day to day conversations. She likes it this way.

.

Review and suggestions, please. =]


	4. Catalysis

Hi, guys! Back with another one already. ^^ I'm sick, so I really have nothing better to do besides write fanfiction.

Suggestion From: Killermay

Setting: AU, High school

Genre: General

Prompt: breaking up and getting back together

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Also, takes place in the same universe as "Pancakes and Sleet." And for you, Killermay, messed up family alert.

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"Catalysis"

Sasuke pulls up outside of Naruto's house two minutes past seven and texts him to come out. Three weeks before his idiot best friend crashed the car into a snow bank and now it's up to him to drive them both to school, and because of this arrangement this morning is going to be hell. He isn't looking forward to it all because getting called anything other than his name (or "squirt" by Itachi who gets older brother privileges) is not something he enjoys. At all.

"BYE, MOM!" Naruto calls as he flies out of his house, a storm of bright colors against the snowy backdrop of Konoha in December. A Christmas tree sparkles merrily in the window and two days from now begins break. As usual, Sasuke is not looking forward to it. The moment Naruto gets in and slams the door in his usual fashion, the smile disappears. "Sasuke, we need to talk," he says bluntly.

He struggles not cringe because his friend getting remotely serious about anything is never a good thing. He's pretty much the Deville twins of real life...and eighteen. "I know," he says with a sigh. "I -"

"What the fuck, man?" This time he really does cringe and puts the car into drive, pulling away from the road and out into the street, relieved even in his worry that it doesn't break down like last time. He bought the car on his own with money from work and even though Itachi promised to pay for repairs, he has yet to get around to it. "Why'd you go and break up with her?"

"It's a long story," he says, wanting to disappear because doesn't want to hear this and he doesn't want to see Sakura in school today. Nothing about this is working out at all. "Do me a favor and buckle your seat belt?"

Though pissed off, Naruto listens and Sasuke allows himself to speed up. He says, "That answer isn't going to work. I mean, c'mon, when the three of us weren't together or you weren't crashing at my place, you were with her! And I know you, that isn't like you."

No, it isn't at all and he's been more consistently happy in the past six months than he has been for long time. Apparently his psychiatrist was right when she said having more than one happy relationship in his life could help stabilize the bipolar disorder further. Now, like with everything in his life, he went and fucked it up and he can't fix it any time soon, if ever.

"Look," he says, "can we not talk about this right now? We're almost at -"

"No we're - Sasuke?"

He pulls over to the side of the road four blocks from school because he doesn't want to have to face her right now, or ever, or any space of time in between now and ever. He turns the car off and folds his arms over the steering wheel, flopping down his head. This is pathetic. He was the one who broke up with her, not the other way around. Doesn't the unwritten laws of being a teenager dictate that he _shouldn't _be upset? There's a hand on his shoulder and his friend repeats, "Sasuke?"

"Take out your phone," he answers, voice muffled, "and call the school. You can imitate my dad's voice pretty well."

There's a pause. Then, "I'm _not _doing this for you again. Last time was an emergency! And we cut together!"

"Then cut with me again," he says.

"You know that it'll look weird, yeah?" Sasuke really, really hates it when Naruto's right. "Last time was your first absence since kindergartner and I only did it so I could get you to the hospital. And you still got grounded!"

"Maybe I should've just told them my fever passed one oh five," he says to the steering wheel, still not lifting his head. "I wish minors didn't need to contact parents all the time."

"Hey, Sasuke, have you ever been late before?"

"Every time Kakashi drove me because my parents were too busy. Or when I have a psychiatry appointment."

"So pretty often?"

"Basically."

There's the sound of dialing, then ringing, and he's reminded that he has the greatest best friend ever. The imitation of his father calling him in late is perfect. When he hangs up, Sasuke asks, "Are you calling for yourself too?"

"Eh, my dad'll call me in later so I can get an excused," Naruto says and Sasuke finally looks up. This has to happen eventually. "Okay, so I did it. Now spill."

He fidgets uncomfortably in his seat. He's always had a few issues discussing his "feelings and "problems" so he knows this isn't going to be easy. "Um," he says, "well, we're starting college in a -"

When Naruto hits him behind the head, he doesn't even bother trying to stop it. "Sasuke, we've been friends since pre-school and you're seriously trying to lie to me?" He nods and sighs. "Besides, if that was the real reason I'd just have to hit you harder. You two are probably both going to end up at U Penn or Harvard or something - if Ivy Leagues ever bothered accepting someone from Konoha, but that's not the point. Is that the reason you gave Sakura?"

"No." He runs his fingers through his hair. "Worse - I just told her it wasn't working out and left it at that."

Naruto shakes his head in exasperation. "That's harsh, man," he says, and it's true. "The only thing to make it harsher would be over text message."

"I did it in person."

"So at least you aren't terrible." There's a lull and he drums his fingers against the steering wheel, feeling panicky and unstable and it's like middle school all over again. Just with a girl involved this time. "Are you going to tell me the real reason or what?"

Sasuke hates his life so hard. "Guess," he says.

"Your family?"

"What else could it be?"

"So what did they say?"

Though he doesn't want to say anything bad about his parents, he feels the imitation voice take over and says, "'Sasuke, you'll ruin your future with a girl like her. Sasuke, you're wasting your time. Sasuke, we'll disown you if you st -'"

Naruto cuts him off. "Dude, then just get disowned."

He sighs. "I thought about that, but they're my family, so they've got to be -"

"They treat you like shit."

Again, he cringes, unable to help it because there's got to be some truth in there that he's trying so hard to deny. "They have my interests at -"

Another hit that he doesn't bother to dodge. "I got away for _one __week _to visit my grandma," he says, "and everything goes to hell. How the fuck did you break up with her last Sunday and no one informed until yesterday?"

"Well, I just didn't want to do this." He crosses his arms. "At least break's in two days. I have ten days of not having to avoid her every ten seconds. Damn AP classes."

"Hey, you'd die in normal people classes," Naruto says. "I die in normal people class and I'm normal."

"Naruto."

"Right, back on topic." He goes silent for a moment, evidently thinking. "You know, you can totally move into my place if you get disowned. You practically live there anyway."

Sasuke runs his fingers through his hair and sighs, trying to keep his breathing under control. He says, "As tempting as that sounds, I'm not going to just up and leave. They're my family. Besides, I'd be inconveniencing your mom and dad anyway."

"They already call you my brother," Naruto says, and again he has a point. The roles here are so reversed it's scary. "They totally wouldn't care. Actually, if anything they'd be happy. My mom and dad would've called social services ages ago if they thought it'd do anything. Just let me at least ask."

Most of Sasuke wants to say yes to this, but some part of him that must be common sense says this is a bad idea and he's more inclined to listen to common sense. "I'm on my family's insurance," he says, "and insurance gets me psychiatry appointments and medication. Not to mention my parents are going to pay for college. And those are only the logical reasons."

"We'd figure something out with the insurance," he says, "and you seriously think you'll have to pay for college? You got a five on eleven AP tests, you're valedictorian in all AP classes, and you're co-captain of the football team. You're every college's wet dream, so basically you'll get a full ride wherever you go." There's a small pause. "You know, unlike me."

Sometimes he forgets how worked up his friend is over college and normally he'd care but at the moment he's having a hard enough time focusing on his break up with Sakura and the sudden possibility of getting disowned to throw on another problem. Luckily, Naruto drops it before anything can start. Sasuke says, "Okay, so you make a point. But - what're you doing?"

The cell phone in Naruto's hand is already ringing and he gets no answer. After a moment, Naruto says into the receiver, "Hi, Dad. Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be in school. There's just kinda an - yeah, basically. What do you think? Well, I was just - Uh-huh. Yeah, me too. He's just worried about - hey, can you stop finishing my sentences? Really? Aw, sweet! Yeah, I'll tell him. You're awesome. Yeah, love you too. Bye, Dad."

Forty-five seconds has to be a record or something for potentially life changing conversations. "My dad said to tell you that we're having rice and beans tonight 'cause we're out of ramen," says his friend, "and that the guest room's been yours for the past like six years anyway. Uncle Jiraiya will just have to deal with the couch. And we'll figure out something with the insurance."

Sasuke bites his thumb nail, a habit left over from his childhood years, trying to figure this out and sifting through what he's going to do. Normally he isn't all that bad at making decisions, but this is a lot to take in. He takes a deep breath and says, "Your parents are amazing and everything and it's really awesome that they're willing to do this, but I can't just drop my family. And you're seriously doing this all so I can get back together with Sakura?"

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Look, if it was just about Sakura and there was a legit reason you broke up with her, I wouldn't do anything, but it sort of has nothing to do with her."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you were acting like you did before you were medicated," he says. "Even before I left you went like a week of being more hyper than I'd seen you act in a long time and then you up and crashed. I was worried enough when I left, and yesterday I find out you broke up with Sakura when I was around the two of you enough to see everything was _fine. _I thought you were off your meds you something."

"It had nothing to do with medication," he says, sinking low in his seat. "Besides, I might be bipolar two, but for all I know getting off will get me to degree one and I'm not stupid enough for that, which you should know by now. I appreciate sanity."

Again, Naruto hits him and he doesn't bother to dodge. "That's why I was worried," he says. "I'm guessing the argument was going on for a long time?"

"About a month," he answers. "Yeah, that's why I was acting kind of crazy. But, anyway, I can't just drop my family like that. We get into arguments and stuff, but they're still my parents. You should've seen them when Itachi left and my mom actually cried when I got my first college acceptance letter, even if it wasn't Harvard. Said something about her little boy growing up."

"Okay, I get it, you have your good moments," says Naruto and Sasuke doesn't want to hear this, "but in those two weeks before I went to Florida you stayed at your house _maybe _twice. That's pretty bad."

He has a point, again, and how little Sasuke wants to hear this is astounding. "They're my family," he repeats. "I get it, too. I'm just not as good as my brother and that's always been kind of problematic."

"You and Itachi are different people, so stop comparing yourself to him." Naruto is not meant to be this insightful. Ever. "Itachi - Hey, Itachi!"

"What?" he says, confused. "Wait - what about him?"

"He has his own insurance, right?"

"Well, yeah. He's kinda a lawyer." Then exactly what his friend means hits him and as much as he hates to admit it, it's sort of obvious enough that he should've figured it out on his own. "Oh."

"He'll get it!" Naruto says excitedly. "And he'll totally add you to his! C'mon, Sasuke call him."

Making this decision at seven thirty in the morning doesn't seem smart, but he's been thinking about it for ages now, long before the argument over his choice in girlfriends started, and maybe it's time to go for it. With another sigh, he picks up his cell phone and dials his brother's number, knowing that on a Monday before about nine his brother's still sleeping because it's his day off. Itachi picks up after the third ring.

"_Sasuke_?" comes his voice, confused. "_What's __wrong_?"

His heart rate's about ten times faster than normal and out of the corner of his eye he sees Naruto nod in encouragement. "Um," he answers, "can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"_If you promise to not take ten minutes to actually ask._"

"Well, um," he says and wants to slap himself for sounding like a blabbering idiot, "hypothetically, if I were to, um, not live with Mom and Dad anymore, would you pay for all the stuff I'd lose?"

"_Is this about Sakura_?"

"Yes - no. I don't know. Maybe."

"_Hypothetically, yes. As long as I don't need to do it before like noon._ _I like sleep._"

"So...you wouldn't mind?"

"_Who would you live with? Naruto?_"

"He sort of asked his parents without my permission."

"_Okay. You get out of school early, right_?"

"Eleven-thirty."

"_I'll call you around one. You sure this isn't just about Sakura_?"

"I said I don't know. Or, yeah. Yeah, it isn't just about her. She's just sort of the catalysis I guess."

"_Get your ass to school, squirt. I'll call you later._" He yawns. "_Bye, Sasuke. You better have your girl back by one or I'll feel like an idiot._"

"But it isn't -"

"_Sasuke._"

"Fine. Bye, Itachi."

"_Talk to you later._"

They hang up and Naruto looks at him expectantly. When Sasuke doesn't answer, he says, "Well?"

"What do you think?" he asks, still indecisive but figuring by this point he might as well go for it, family or not. Maybe it could all work out by the time he goes to college anyway and giving each other space could be a good thing. Even if they are his parents. "C'mon, let's get to school. I guess I better see whether or not Sakura and I can get back together. My reasoning was kind of weak."

"Hey, I can back you up," says Naruto as Sasuke pulls out onto the road again. "Though, you look like a jackass for not standing up for yourself already."

"I'll ask her after gym," he says, trying to focus on the street in front of him as it starts to flurry. His winter coat is too thin for this weather. "I bet she'll say no." Already he's thought of ten different, horrible scenarios because pessimism is a bitch.

"Considering what the two of us know about your family, I doubt she'll blame you," Naruto says and the rest of the ride is in silence.

By the time they reach the school, they have half an hour left of first block, which means half an hour until he can apologize to Sakura for not having a backbone. They exit the car together and it takes about three tries for Sasuke to actually open the door because the cold froze it shut. He grabs his books and heads off behind Naruto into the school and to the office, more nervous than he's used to. The secretary looks back and forth between the two of them and he supposes he and Naruto, who are known as friends by the entire school anyway, showing up at the same time doesn't look good for either of them. He signs himself in and blames it on sleep because most of the reasoning column is filled with word sleep anyway.

"See you next block," says Naruto when they exit the office, heading off in separate directions. He gives him a small smile. "Don't worry, Sasuke, it'll be fine."

"Yeah," he says, running his fingers through his hair. "Thanks."

"Any time."

He takes his time getting to gym because the hyperactivity that is Mr. Maito is not someone he wants to face first thing after the mess in the car. Hopefully he doesn't look too miserable because now that he's alone the full impact of his decision hits him. He's leaving his family because of a girl, which is the reason no matter how he looks at it, and that seems pretty shallow. Or something. He can't think of a better word.

But this is a good thing, maybe. The past six months were amazing and while not perfect, he did feel more relaxed and less panicky even as his relationship with his parents declined further and further. Telling them he didn't want to go to Harvard probably didn't help matters. And he let himself get vulnerable too, which is something he avoids. It took him up until the last week of November to Sakura he loved her, then went and fucked it up four weeks later and he doubts that helps how messed up he's been. Getting out can't be all that bad, he thinks, and he's had a place to stay before he even came to this decision and Itachi said he'd put him up on his insurance, so everything's going to good.

Hopefully.

The moment he opens the gym doors, Mr. Maito's says (or, more like yells), "THERE YOU ARE, MR. UCHIHA! WE HAVE MISSED YOU THIS BRIGHT MORNING!"

"Um," he says, refraining from pointing out that it's flurrying and therefore not a bright morning at all, "yeah. Okay."

Mr. Maito's eyes go to clock. "GO FORTH TO VOLLEYBALL, SASUKE! YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU!" He speaks with exclamation points at the end of every sentence, Naruto said as a freshman and exclamation points are not something he wants to hear first thing in the morning. He gives the teacher the office pass and goes to join his team which unfortunately includes Sakura.

They play without looking at each other and it's a good thing that Hinata can't serve, so ball never hits where he's standing. He spends the entire twenty minutes contemplating how he's going to talk to his ex-girlfriend because he's never been all that eloquent. Sakura and Naruto always know what to say, probably because they actually talk, but him not so much. When Mr. Maito calls everyone to get changed, he hangs out on the bleachers, wishing this minute could last forever so he doesn't have to talk to her. But of course time needs to go on because life hates him and Sakura reappears moments before the bell rings, talking to Ino about something. If he didn't know her so well, he'd probably think that laugh was real too.

Then the bell rings and the great exodus out of the gym begins. He gathers his books again and heads off after her, catching up when she breaks away from Ino and reaches her locker. He refrains from biting his thumb nail again and when he's close enough says, "Sakura, can we -"

"Go away, Sasuke," she says and yanks the the locker door open. "I was having a really great day and I don't need you to ruin it by discussing how -"

"Sakura -"

"- we didn't work out or something. I'm -"

"Sakura -"

"- over you now anyway and I just don't care, okay?" Her voice has gone up about an octave and he feels like a horrible, horrible person. Doing this between classes doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore. "Why were you late anyway?" she asks, voice still too high. "Off with some other girl already?"

"You know I'm not like that," he answers, crossing his arms, collapsing into himself. Why does he have to be so bad at this? "I was -"

"How do I know anything anymore?" she says. "I didn't think you were the type of person to break off a relationship without warning for the stupidest reason ever!"

Naruto's _that's harsh, man _echoes through his head and it really is the stupidest reason ever. "Okay," he says, "I'll give you that. But that wasn't really the -"

"Oh, so if that wasn't the reason how am I supposed to believe what you're going to say now?" Everyone seems to be making valid points today but him. "You're the -"

"I spent the morning getting -"

"I don't care, Sas -"

"- cajoled into moving out of my house." Abruptly, she closes her mouth mid-word and stares. "Look, you and I both know what I said when we broke up was complete bullshit. After instant decision day when I got accepted into Dartmouth, an argument sort of started up with my family. I know it isn't a real reason, but after a month of fighting, I guess I sort of wore down and broke up with you."

She crosses his arms, glaring and he knew this wasn't going to be easy. "You could've just said that," she says and he hears a catch in her voice. "Instead you say we aren't working out and don't elaborate and I've had to watch other girls trying to get with you since last Sunday. I'm not going to deny it, Sasuke. You broke my heart. I can't just let you back."

"I know." And he does, which it makes it not as bad or worse. He isn't sure. "I'm sorry. Really. If I could go back in time and change it, I would. This week's been hard for me too, and right now I'm so fucking scared of this and moving out, which my parents don't even know about yet, that I bet I'm doing this all wrong and if you don't want to forgive me, that's fine. I'll leave you alone and it'll suck for a while, sure, but you'll find someone else and as long as you're happy I'll be happy, okay?"

She sighs and says, "Look, I'm glad that you're getting out, but -"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" he says, the words tumbling out before he can stop them. "It's not - but it is - and, and, and - Oh, hell, I don't know."

"Are you staying with Naruto's family?" she asks and he nods, not wanting to focus on himself right now.

"Yeah," he answers. "He called them before I could say no and after they said yes, he spent about twenty minutes explaining why it was good for me."

"Well, it'll be nice that you can finally think for yourself for once without getting in trouble for it," she says, slamming her locker door shut. The warning bell rings and neither move. They both have Kakashi next, who'll be late anyway and even if he's on time he won't care. The wonders of favoritism. "Seriously, watching you get shoved around's been pretty hard. Still, that doesn't change anything."

"Okay," he says, not bothering to hide how miserable he sounds because she can see through him anyway. "Like I said, I'm sorry. And I wasn't lying, just so you know."

"Lying about what?" Her eyes are narrowed in suspicion. "That it 'wasn't working out.'"

"No," he answers and feels himself flush, "when I said I loved you. I know I acted a little temperamental after that, so I wasn't sure if you...well, you know." He pushes himself off of the locker he was leaning against. "Well, bye, I guess. Sorry."

"Wait," she says, and he stops immediately. "You aren't moving out because of me, right?"

"No," he answers because he might as well be honest. "There've been problems for years. You were the final straw, I guess. Telling them later's going to suck, too. Maybe this is a bad idea."

"And if we stay broken up, you won't move back in, right?"

"Yeah. It's done pretty much anyway."

Suddenly she reaches over and grabs his hand and he's too surprised to say anything. There's a small smile on her face. She says, "You know, it's only been a week. I bet we can work something out."

"What?"

"It won't be easy."

"No, seriously. You're getting back together with me?"

She kisses him in the middle of the hallway when they're already late to class and he's so confused. "Yeah," she says. "Just don't expect it to be perfect right away. And you have to promise to be honest from now on."

Girls are way too complicated, he thinks, but decides not to think about too much. Relief is the most prominent emotion at the moment, and he's okay with this. "I promise," he says, giving her another kiss, "and I know."

"Sasuke?" she says as they head off to class, five minutes late and counting.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

She squeezes his hand and he smiles.

"I love you, too," he says, and means it.

.

Before I get any flames, bipolar II does legitimately exist.

Review, please. =] Suggestions are appreciated.


	5. Paradoxical

Hi! This might turn out...weird. There's no real way to say it. I try to keep "general" to no specified mood, like flopping back and forth between one emotion and the other, but I just had a really difficult day so this will probably also turn out kind of strange. Sorry, IAAP, if it's not what you wanted.

Suggestion From: I Am a Person

Setting: AU, unspecified

Genre: General

Prompt: In a dark, snowy clearing with gnarled trees and frozen waterfall at night

Disclaimer: Don't own.

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"Paradoxical"

There is a wall the runs down the center of a clearing, made of churning white water and rough grey stone, a vertical river that moves horizontally north to south. It stands nine feet tall and stops abruptly when it reaches the cliff face and widens, losing the rocks, tumbling fifty feet to the smooth lake below. Sakura comes here when the sky is cloudless and the aurora borealis is bright. She climbs the tallest tree's gnarled branches and sits by the top, peering through thick, leafless twigs to the other side of the clearing. She swigs her bare feet back and forth and her bright hair is a lone flower in the middle of perpetual winter.

When she finds an opening, she drags one or both of her friends along and they share strips of dried fish and a canteen of ramen they sip from. Below the vertical river churns, paradoxically quiet in the cold, clear night air. The day she turns fifteen they sneak out of their separate places of residence at midnight and meet on the highest branch of the tallest tree, the forest stretched out for miles and miles before them and the wall of water running from the horizon to the waterfall. The aurora borealis hangs above them, shivering and shimmering.

"Where's Naruto?" she asks, lying on her stomach on the thick, icy branch, looking down to the snow covered clearing below. She and her friend leave no footprints when they walk, and the expanse of white below seems serene and undisturbed. "Couldn't get away?"

"He's sick," Sasuke says, leaning against the trunk of tree and looking unhappy because he is always unhappy, ever since he was seven but she supposes this is only natural. "And you know how the adults get when someone gets sick. He's basically in quarantine until further notice. Been pretty boring without him."

A puddle pools in the indent of the branch below, formed of melted ice. "I missed _his _fifteenth birthday," she says and reaches down, running the tips of her fingers over the pool of water. It is it cold, as expected, and a shiver runs down her spine. The aurora bathes them in light, the ice turns green, the churning wall stays white. "I guess it must be karma or whatever that he misses mine. Eye or an eye or something. What would that be, Sasuke?"

For a moment there is no answer and she assumes he shrugs, which is not uncommon. Sasuke tends to lean towards nonverbal responses during conversation and this is the reason she rarely looks at him. She likes his voice and facing away forces him to use words. After a moment of nothingness, he says, "I don't know."

"Eye for an eye, I think."

"Maybe."

This forest is considered unlucky, unwanted, a place to be feared and never stray too close to, and it is safe for secret meetings in the middle of the night. Besides their voices and the paradoxically quiet churning of water, there is the rare sound of wind in frigid branches and nothing else. Words die ten feet away from mouths, getting absorbed into the silence and the silence enters the river and the world is frightfully still. She pushes herself up suddenly and leans back until she and Sasuke are touching and he makes no move to hold her or move her away. They look in the direction of the river.

She says, "You're leaving, aren't you, Sasuke?" He shrugs again and she feels rather than sees it. "You can tell me, you know. Naruto and I can keep secrets, even if we do talk a lot."

"I know," he says. "And...I don't know. I suppose so. I've been getting ready for a while now."

"So you're really going to kill him?"

"Yes."

"We're coming with you."

For a moment there is nothing again, and the quiet sounds of churning water seem violently loud in the still air.

Then he says, "If you get in the way, I'll leave you wherever you are. I don't care if you're lost or dying."

"That's not scaring me away," she says, and thinks that if it came down to it, maybe he would even kill them too and she finds herself accepting of this, "and I doubt it'll scare Naruto too. We're coming with you. Help, if you'd like."

"I don't want help." The aurora shifts and the tree glows green and rose and blue and throws discolored shadows on their faces. "I don't need it."

She says, "We'll see," and her voice is mild.

Neither of them speaks for a while. She feels his heartbeat against her back, steady and real and contemplates the metaphysical nature of the river and infinite winter. Once she was scared of what people could do to her and of this place like the others and of losing her friends. Then a girl on the playground grabbed her long hair, so she cut it away and fought back for her pride and she cannot find it in her to be afraid anymore. She understands the vapidness of her life and how utterly meaningless the vertical river is and she enters and leaves here carelessly now.

And it feels wonderful.

After forever and an hour she cannot take the silence anymore, so she says, "Tsunade's been teaching me how to heal. If I go, I can actually be useful for once."

"You're useful already," he says and she is unsure whether this is a good thing or a bad and decides that it is both at the same time, maybe. "And I never said you couldn't come. The two of you just need to understand that you're not top priority."

She laughs and it sounds bitter and cold. At fifteen she understands more about life than is advisable and thinks of the meaningless happiness she had as a child when simply getting a sign of acknowledgement from the boy she leans against now was enough to earn a wonderful day. She had fights with a girl named Ino and wore a red ribbon in her hair and maybe there really is some truth in the proverb ignorance is bliss.

The river below splashes this way and that and leaves no mark on snow that still appears freshly fallen. With her thin clothes and bare feet she is cold but not terribly uncomfortable and her cheeks must be very, very red. There comes the soft sound of rustling and metal clanking against metal and a canteen is held in front of her. She takes it in her hands and for a moment simply holds it, letting the warmth sweep through her body. On the other side of the churning wall of water is another wood of gnarled, ice-slicked trees, a forest made of overgrown bones glowing green. She takes a sip from the canteen, the broth wonderfully hot even as she scolds her tongue.

"If I started disappearing right now," she says, looking at the skeletal forest and wonders what fading feels like, "what would you do?"

"Disappear as in how?" he asks.

"You know," she answers, "vanish. Stop existing. Not be dead...just gone. What would you do?"

"Probably scream," he says and she laughs, the sound absorbed into the silence ten feet away. "Or - I don't know. That sounds the most realistic. I might fall out of the tree, too. Why?"

She hands him back the canteen and says, "We're talking about leaving. That's sort of like disappearing, isn't?"

"Hm. I guess." Again, she feels him shrug. "Less screwed up, though."

"Not many things can be considered _more _screwed up," she says, running her fingers through her short hair. The lighting of the aurora shifts and they are no longer cascaded with shivering green. Below, the river churns quietly and the waterfall makes no sound at all. "When do you want to leave?" she asks. "We might as well do it soon."

There is a silence of thoughtfulness. "I'd say tomorrow," he says, "but we should wait until Naruto gets better. Next week."

She smiles slightly and lies down on her stomach again, reaching her arm downwards so she can skim her fingers across the puddle's surface. Water droplets drip noiselessly from her hand to the still puddle below her.

"I love you," she says.

"I know," he answers. He does not love her back and she is okay with this.

Below, the wall of water churns.

.

This is probably the closest to post-modernism I'm going to get in terms of fanfiction. Sorry for utter strangeness.

Review & leave suggestions, please.


	6. Mr Owl shortened version of title

Hi! This is, again, a high school AU that goes along the rest. **Extremely** long and weird title alert.

Suggestion From: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Setting: AU, High School

Genre: Unspecified

Prompt: Either Sakura or Sasuke is new to school and they both show up wearing the same thing.

Also, author's note: "New" is less new in the sense of moving and more like going to public school for the first time, which is apparently terrifying. I wouldn't know. Hope that still fits well enough for you, M.

Disclaimer: Don't know.

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"Mr. Owl, How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Pop?"

Sakura stands in the middle of the hallway, half her shirt stuck to the corner of her binder where it tore, and cannot find it in her to move. She vows to never buy shirts this thin ever again. Ino is next to her, staring, and for a moment neither knows quite what to say.

As the warning bell rings, she finds her voice and says, "Hey, do you have a shirt I can borrow?" She sounds shaky and all that runs threw her head is that she flat out refuses to get a detention on her first day as a high school student for breaking the dress code, something that is absolutely not at all intentional.

But naturally her luck sucks and Ino does not have gym until next semester. "God, I'm sorry, but no," her friend says, eyes widened. "I mean, _my god_. Maybe Hinata?"

"She'll be in class by now," she answers, thoughts racing as she tries to figure out who she can ask. "Same with Tenten. Oh, shi - Naruto!"

"What?"

"Naruto's always late," she says, "and he has gym right now, so if I head him off at the locker room he'll totally give me his shirt."

"Genius!" says Ino, then falters. "Wait - you're seriously going to wear a shirt three sizes to big on you on the first day of you freshman year? Cheerleaders don't do that! We set standards!"

"I can't think of anything else," she says, tracing her steps back to gym class as fast as she can because she really, really does not want to get in trouble. "I'll meet you at geometry!"

"Saku - Oh, fine."

They head off in separate directions and by this point Sakura is half-running in the same route she just came from, praying that Naruto keeps up his late streak from middle school. Desperate times call for desperate measures and she is pretty sure this counts as a desperate situation. A small bit of luck comes to her, if this can even be called luck because it's a horrible thing to happen before she has had time to define herself, and she finds him exiting the gym in the direction of the locker room. Thank god.

When she comes close enough, she calls, "Naruto! Wait up!"

Her friend stops and spins around and he's wearing a darker colored shirt for once with a picture of Mr. Owl on the front. While she loved that commercial as a kid as much as he did (minus the mysteriously naked boy), she seriously does not want to be caught dead in that. Still, desperate times. "What's up?" he asks, tucking his arms behind his head. "Missed me al - whoa, what happened to your shirt?"

"The god of school supplies is out to get me or something," she says with an edge of panic in her voice. "Can I have your shirt? And you just wear your gym one all day? Please, please, please, please?"

"Yeah, sure," he says and swaps the two right there at the end of a hallway. She pulls it on over her ripped shirt and some red showing above the obvious guy's shirt color. If Naruto had worn orange, this would be even more terrible than it already was. Stupid hair. The child in her wants to cry from this injustice of this all. "Ya'good?"

"Best as I can be at the moment," she says and gives him a hug. The final bell rings. "Aw, fuck. I better run. Bye, thank you _so _much."

"See you," he says, but she's already gone, sprinting down the hall and she suppose that it's a good thing she is athletic as well as smart.

Finding geometry is harder than she expects and she makes three wrong turns until she finally reaches it, entering seven minutes late. The teacher is a woman with purplish hair and she digs through her memory archives from Tenten's stories and suddenly she knows this class is going to be hell.

"Sorry," she says, and it turns in a squeak. "I, uh, got lost."

Ms. Mitarashi narrows her eyes and surveys her up and down. "Freshman?" she asks and Sakura nods. "Make sure it doesn't happen again. Sit in behind Uchiha - kid with the black hair wearing the same shirt."

Suddenly everyone turns and no matter how quickly Sasuke's going to get popular, wearing the same shirt is mortifying. Especially taking into account the _last _time they saw each other. With a sigh she heads over to her seat, head down and this is so unfair. Ms. Mitarashi goes over the rules of the classroom, going back repeatedly to the importance of coming on time which just makes Sakura feel worse.

As quietly as she can manage, she tears a piece of paper from her notebook because she deleted his number ages ago out of embarrassment and writes, _You're seriously wearing a shirt from a 90s __commerical_? and tosses it lightly onto Sasuke's desk. She finds it bad enough that they are even in the same school together and now this? He should stayed in private school with his uniforms and not allowed himself to be abruptly integrated into _her _place. Stupid Naruto and stupid truth or date and stupid eleventh birthday parties.

Three years later and her face still flushes around him. God, she's so pathetic. Not only is he in her school but he is in her class too and he happens to be smart like her so with a student body this small, they are bound to have most classes together. Her luck is horrible and she hates her life. The paper lands in front of her again.

_Overslept_, it reads, _grabbed the first thing I saw. What's your excuse? _

Both shirts are the same cut, the same shade of dark blue, and the same Mr. Owl stitched on the front with thin, silver thread. She writes, _My binder is possessed._

She waits, ignoring Ms. Mitarashi who has yet to notice them and seems about as ADD as Naruto which may or may not turn out to be hilarious. Then,

_How tragic. _His handwriting is almost girlishly neat. _You should really look into getting that checked. _

_Shut up. You look as out of place as I do. _

_You're out of place? I hadn't noticed. I thought it might be a new look to go along with your new hair. _

Last time she saw him, her hair was long but now she keeps it short and manageable - practical. His statement feels insulting, whether it is meant to or not and she thinks this year is going to be ruined.

_What're you doing owning the same shirt as Naruto anyway? _she asks.

_Like hell if I know_, comes the answer. _I don't even know where this came from. Why, is it his?_

_No, I'm wearing his._

There is a pause where she sees him not writing. Then his shoulder moves and there is the light sound of pen against paper and their note lands back in front of her.

All is says is, _Why?_

She circles the sentence _My binder is possessed. _

_And_?

_My shirt ripped so I asked Naruto for his. _

Again, there is a delay and she realizes what his mind potentially jumped to. But even if they were going out, she still wouldn't be caught dead in a shirt that is so obviously masculine. Well, at least it isn't _Transformers _or something, she supposes.

_What do you have next block_? he writes.

_Lunch/Study, then English Honors. _

Even before the paper comes back, she knows the answer and thinks again that life is so unfair. At fourteen she is not meant to get this jittery and nervous around a boy, especially a boy she knows she will have to spend a dreadful amount of time with, but Sasuke has always been her one exception. So when the note reads, _Same. Well isn't this just perfect_, she is not surprised at all.

_You realize a whole bunch of sophomores see that we're matching, right?_

_I'm not blind. It isn't a big deal. _

Boys never understand anything.

_Yeah, it pretty much is. I don't want to match with you. It's bad enough matching with another girl._

_If it's such a big deal, go and get changed again. _

_If I had another shirt I totally would. You know, it's really creepy that you and Naruto share the same shirt. _

And that she and he happen to be wearing it at the same time because god is her luck bad. In the grand scheme of possible first day nightmares, this has to be pretty minor, but under no circumstances does this mean she has to be happy with it.

_I don't know. I've been using this as a pajama shirt. _

_Wow. Wearing a pajama shirt to school is even more pathetic than what I'm doing. _

_Only thing clean. _

_That's no excuse for matching with Naruto. And me. _

_I really don't get why this is so important. It's just a shirt. Shouldn't we be paying attention?_

They drop the conversation and she spends the rest of the block with her head in her arms, upset beyond reason. Even though they share the same best friend and have for years, they rarely spent time together and she is okay with this. After she got over that massive crush she had for ages, never seeing him again seemed like a good thing. Now suddenly he is back and while she was warned she still feels cheated of some knowledge and thinks that this is the absolute worst way to start her life as a high school student.

When they exit class she flies out of the room so that they have no chance to even make eye contact and waits for Ino outside the door, eyes turned downwards. During sixth and seventh grade she and the other girl had their problems and moments like this make her profoundly happy that they managed to patch themselves up. She needs someone to rant to and no one is quite so good at joining a rant as Ino is. Especially in terms of boys, both in good ways and bad ways.

Ino appears behind a slow moving Chouji and squeezes between him and the door and hugs Sakura once they are close enough. Naruto might be her best friend, but he is not another girl and there are some things they can't talk to. But she can with Ino, and perhaps this is what keeps them friends. And the fact that they're both cheerleaders, which may or may contribute.

"Oh my god," says the blonde girl, pulling away from her so they move quickly down the hall together, not wanting to be pegged as traffic-causing freshman. "That was _awful_!"

"Don't remind me," she answers miserably, though hearing someone else say it is a relief. "Can you believe it? I mean, I thought I could get away with it, you know? It's not a bad shirt or anything. But naturally Sasuke had to be wearing it too and now my first day is ruined because of a wardrobe malfunction."

Ino's brow knits with confusion. "Sasuke? How'd you -" A dawning realization comes to her face. "Uchiha," she says. "_That's _Sasuke? Like, private-school Naruto's friend? Damn, Sakura, this just became so much less disastrous."

"What do you mean?" she asks, bewildered, and her friend laughs.

"I mean that Uchiha is hands down the hottest guy I've ever seen and he isn't even a senior," answers Ino, one corner of her mouth tilted up into a smirk. "And I bet looks like that go along with football player and as a cheerleader wearing the same shirt as him on the very first day, you two will be forever remembered as a pair. Give it a month and your popularity will skyrocket, sweetie."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'd like to pass," she says dryly, though she under no circumstances means to explain why this is so damn horrific. "I never thought I'd say this, but even if does end up being known as the most gorgeous guy in school, I don't want to be associated with him any more than I will."

Ino rolls her eyes. "Fine," she says, "but if you aren't putting your claim on him by way of matching, then he's mine."

"What happened to Shikamaru?"

"I'm blonde, pretty, and smart," she answers with a cheerful smile and Sakura has a tendency to surround herself with the most egotistical people alive, "and he's just...smart. Like, that's all he has going for him."

"That's really, really shallow."

"Since when do you care?"

Since never, really. But she wants the subject off of her regardless of her original rant intentions because keeping as far away from the truth or dare incident is fine by her. Ranting suddenly loses its attraction. When they reach the lunch room, Ino suddenly says, "So, Sasuke really knows no one but you and Naruto, right?" She nods. "And Naruto doesn't have lunch right now?"

"He has it -" Then she pauses and backtracks. "Ino, no. Just no. We aren't sitting with him, underst - Ino!"

Unfortunately, Sakura has no one to really sit with either since Ino is the only one of her friends to share 3a lunch with her and she is powerless to do anything but follow the taller girl to the table Sasuke is putting down his books on. Ino has her flirtatious smile on her face that is apparently irresistibly to the opposite gender, or so she says.

"Hi," her friend says, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder and placing on hand on the table. "Mind if we sit here?"

Sasuke looks back and forth between them and seems more tired and sulky than she remembers him being. Then again, last time she saw him was his middle school graduation and everyone's happy when they get to leave the building that housed what is inevitably three horrible years. And the last time she actually spoke to him was three years ago. A lot can change in three years, she supposes.

That, or he is just tired because he spent all summer sleeping in and she's over thinking that.

With a shrug, he says, "If you want," and heads off in the directions of the lengthening lunch line. Ino turns to her, smile victorious, and Sakura feels her heart sink because the last thing she wants to do is sit at the same table as Sasuke when she is most likely going to see him for her next two classes too and probably all of next semester. Naruto's shirt is uncomfortably large on her narrow body.

"God, he's gorgeous," says Ino, sitting down on one of the plastic red chairs. Sakura sighs and sits down next to her, pulling a granola bar from her pocket. Eating at ten-twenty is _way _too early for her to get a real lunch, even if only munching on a Trader Joe's peanut butter bar makes her feel anorexic which she totally is not because health class videos have scarred her for life. Ino eats nothing at all.

"I don't care," she answers, crossing her arms and sinking low in her seat, "and I really hate you right now. Why'd we have to go and sit next to him? You know I don't want to."

"I'm just looking out for your best interests, Sakura," she says, smirking as she pulls a water bottle from her bag. "You're totally missing out on like the greatest opportunity ever! Well, for a freshman anyway." The smirk transforms into a smile that spells out more torture and the moment she gets home she is calling up Temari so she can hang out with someone who is not in this school and can drive her far, far away - or at least to the movies.

Sakura says and finishes her granola bar. "I totally should've just gotten a detention," she says, running his fingers through her short hair. "Or gone to the nurse and called my mom to bring me a knew one. She would've bitched about it, but at least it would've been something cute."

"Hey, the shirt could've been worse," Ino says as Sakura catches the sight of Sasuke heading back, looking down at the mozzarella sticks on his lunch tray like he is not sure what to feel about them.

She groans and crosses her arms on the table, laying her chin on top because she does not want to deal with this at all and says, "Can we just drop the subject, please? I want to concentrate on getting through the day first, mmkay?"

Sasuke sits down and looks back and forth between the two of them, obviously uncomfortable with one thing or the other and it probably has something to do with her because no one ever gets like that around Ino.

"So, Sasuke," says Ino before he can say anything and Sakura knows this is going to be painful. "How do and Sakura know each other?"

"Mutual friend," he answers and after one bite of the mozzarella he pushes it away and Sakura gets a glance of orange-green cheese on the inside. Apparently lunch food between middle school and high school has not improved. "Okay, that was a waste of five dollars."

"And that's why I don't eat anything," Ino says and Sakura decides it will be best to let her do all the talking. Maybe Sasuke will forget she exists and she can live the rest of the day as a wall flower. "Are you playing any sports, Sasuke?"

He shrugs and does look particularly enthusiastic about having a conversation. Deciding that is it best just to ignore the two, Sakura pulls out her geometry text book and a notebook and starts on her homework. Getting any homework the first day of school seems unfair, but she supposes this is the price to pay for honors classes and intelligence. Sasuke answers, "I don't know. Naruto wants me to join football so he won't get 'bored.'"

"You _totally _should," Ino says and Sakura thinks that she is not as good at flirting as she thinks she is. "We're cheerleaders."

"Oh."

"We -"

Unable to take it anymore, Sakura pulls out her iPod too and puts the headphones in her ears, turning up the volume a flick louder than she normally prefers so she does not have to hear her friend gushes over Sasuke anymore. She spends the rest of lunch this way, figuring out her way through the geometry homework with what she learned the year before, purposely taking a longer time than she needs. She passes the rest of the forty five minutes this way before taking her headphones out and stuffing them in her pocket, ready to head off to Mr. Umino's study hall.

She has these forty minutes to herself and does not mind at all. With nothing to do and no one to talk to, she crosses her arms over the desk and flops her head down. After five minutes, she sleeps.

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Yeah, I had literally no idea how to end this thing, possibly because I'm sick. Again. Stupid antibiotic allergy. Also, completely unedited.


	7. Pretend

So sorry for the delay! The semester's wrapping up and my life's been hectic. Also, the change in clothing goes on the realistic assumption that in real life/an actual story, they would have more than one outfit.

Username: whitexgodess

Setting: Canon

Genre: Romance

Prompt: Summer, Beach, Surfing

Disclaimer: Not mine.

**Note: **Sasuke wavers in and out of being really, really OOC but I wanted to write him as happy for once, dammit. And since this is canon, I really don't know how to put romance into it without making it AU, so sorry WG. =/

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"Pretend"

They're stuck here until the bridge is finished, and dying of boredom.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asks, entering the room as Sasuke finishes eating. He shrugs and pushes his bowl away, ignoring Naruto who tries to answer with his mouth full. "What?"

"He's out helping with the bridge," says Sasuke, wondering how he managed to become Naruto's translator. "A piece broke loose on the underside, so Tazuna-san asked him to help out."

With a sigh, she comes and sits down next to him. "So no training today?" she says and Naruto nods. "Great, there's nothing to do. Again."

"I'm going out anyway." He stands, picking up the bowl with the intention of bringing it to the kitchen, but is cut off by Tsunami-san entering the room.

When she sees them all, she smiles and says, "Kakashi-san is out again?"

"Yeah," Sakura answers, though why she's sad he can't figure out. Last he checked, there's no particular reason for her be, since she never seemed to serious about training or getting better anyway. "Is there anything you need done around the house?"

Tsunami-san shakes her head and Sasuke knows this going to be an annoyingly long day. "Do you have an ocean at all in the Fire Country?" she asks.

"I don't think so," says Naruto and he realizes he doesn't know either. This mission is the first time he's ever been out of the general area of Konoha. From the look on her face, he's guessing it's the same for Sakura too.

"Why?" she says, standing up and joining him, which means she's going a fourth day in a row without eating breakfast.

"Well, Water Country's about as warm as your summers," Tsunami answers, smiling brightly at them, "_and _a day when everyone's either at work or school, so I was thinking I could bring you down to the shoreline. You'll have the beach to yourselves and training every single day can't be good for you, right?"

From the first time in a while, he's torn. While he absolutely hates water and does want to go out training again, she was right it being unhealthy for the body and even _he _can't take another day of boredom. After two weeks of this place - four days of which were just spent recovering - he needs to do something else. He shrugs as his way of saying yes, Sakura nods her head enthusiastically and suddenly Naruto is next to him, huge smile on his face, and it's decided. Tsunami's smiled brightens and she turns around, leading them away. "Come on, it's not far," she said.

His teammates chatter with her as they walk and Sasuke hangs in the back, avoiding getting dragged into the conversation. Spending the day with them is hard enough without being forced to talk. After spending so long closed off and antisocial, he's having trouble adjusting to being surrounded by people all the time. Even though he hates to admit it, it's true and he has no real desire to change himself any time soon. He's been in this stasis for too long to do it now.

Hanging back doesn't work for long, though. Sakura notices and pauses, falling into step with him. For a moment neither speaks and he finds himself not minding her company. Then the moment stretches into two, then three, then four, then - so on. They walk in silence and though he doesn't want to, he has a feeling of anticipation, waiting for her to say something. Haruno Sakura is not known for being quiet.

She finally speaks when the reach the ocean. They come around a bend of trees and suddenly his feet hit sand and in front of them stretches out miles and miles of water, endlessly. "Oh my god," she says, jumping in place, clasping her hands in front of her. "It's _ beautiful_, isn't it?"

While he doesn't think beautiful is the right word, the ocean is certainly different. Konoha is surrounded by one huge forest and landlocked. "I'll come back for you three in a few hours and bring some of your dry clothes," Tsunami says. "Um, there are surf boards in the shed over there. It's unlocked and anyone can use them as long as they're put back afterwards. A snack stand is under a mile that way. When you get hungry, just tell them you're friends with me and you won't have to pay anything. If you swim or go surfing, keep an eye out for any sharks."

"Thank you, Tsunami-san," Sakura says, hand over Naruto's mouth, abruptly stopping him before he could make a comment about being too good for sharks or something. Sasuke echoes her. Tsunami smiles again and gives a goodbye, walking away, leaving them on their own. Half of him wishes he hadn't come, but the other half is glad to just get a change of scenery.

After the hand is lowered from his mouth, Naruto says, "So...what's surfing?"

The three of them all exchange looks, perplexed. Sasuke remembers hearing mention of it a few times, but never really getting it explained to him. "I think it has something to with 'riding' on the waves," Sakura answers. "My aunt mentioned it to me a few years ago. Is it pathetic that we don't know what this is?"

"Yeah," he answers, crossing his arms, scowling. Sasuke isn't used to being ignorant to something. Naruto and Sakura kick off their shoes and since he doesn't know what else to do, he follows for example.

He expects to be the only one to leave on all his clothes, but he's wrong - Sakura does too and all Naruto takes off is the jacket he wears, leaving himself in shorts and a black shirt. The lack of orange is welcome. The waves rush softly against the shore, in and out, the sunlight sparkling on the water. In his family house there was a photograph of the ocean at sunset, but the actual thing looks differed. Bigger, more expansive. Naruto lets out a cheer and runs forward, straight into the water. Next to him, Sakura laughs but heads off too and he follows because even if hates water, there are something he can't pass up, even if they are contradictory.

The water is colder than he expects and that almost makes him get out. Next to him, Sakura yelps in surprise. Naruto's out a little further, shivering. The lake by the training ground, which they've all ended up in by this point, is considerably warmer than this. Despite what Tsunami seemed to think, Konoha was pretty warm all year around and maybe even warmer if the bodies of water could be taken into account. Sakura looks at him with her wide green eyes as if checking if this is a good idea and he nods. They wade out a little further until they draw up with their teammate and he's used to it by now.

Naruto says, "M-maybe if we just drive in it w-won't be so cold anymore."

This sounds reasonable even if it's Naruto who says it and the three of them force themselves under at the same time. For a moment it's freezing and he can't move. Then he abruptly gets used it and opens his eyes. They sting a little, but not by much. A finger jabs him in the side and even under the water he can see how large Sakura's smile is. He feels himself smile back. A large fish swims between them and the sea is clear enough that they can see the white sand at the bottom.

She goes up first followed by he and Naruto at the same time. Their hair sticks to their faces. "Okay," she says, "this is awesome. If we're still here tomorrow, we should totally convince Kakashi-sensei that training in the water will be good for us."

"Yeah!" Naruto says, enthusiastic as always. Because of water, Sakura's shirt is practically glued to her body and he never noticed how small she was before.

"I'm going further out," he says, walking backwards. Then he twists and swims, not going as fast as he can because they have so much time that he doesn't need to. He isn't used to not having to rush everywhere. His teammates follow.

There doesn't seem to be much talking today and the air feels empty without constant chatter. Rather than be relieved, he finds himself vaguely annoyed. When he gets out as far as he feels comfortable with, he lies on his back, letting himself float. He wishes he'd asked Kakashi to teach them how to use chakra to walk on water because that would be interesting. The sun shines down from overhead. By this end of this, he's going to be completely burned. Pale skin is not conducive to summer daylight.

Suddenly a hand grabs his ankle and pulls him under before he can fight back. Naruto is there, already moving away, surprisingly fast for a kid who doesn't seem to really know how to swim. He goes after him, narrowly dodging Sakura as she goes under too. After all the mess they've gone through over the past week, even he admits that this feel wonderful.

Ultimately, he can't catch up with Naruto and comes back up because he can only hold his breath for so long. Water hits him in the face immediately and without really thinking about it, he splashes back. It's only after five minutes of a three way water fight that he realizes how horribly childish this is. But he can't let up now without technically forfeiting and he pretends he isn't having a least a little bit of fun.

"I surrender, I surrender!" Sakura says after a while, laughing along with Naruto. Even Sasuke's smiling a bit because he supposes after that it's hard not to. "Ugh, saltwater tastes disgusting."

"Let's get something eat!" says Naruto. It's been hours since breakfast by this point. "Tsunami-san said the snack stand's down the beach, right?"

"Maybe they have fruity drinks," she says hopefully as they swim towards shore. They're out further than he realized and pushed to the right. "You know, strawberries and stuff. Sasuke, you like apples, right?"

"Yeah," he answers. "The sourish ones only, though."

"What do you like Naruto? You know, except for ramen."

They reach the floor and sand uncomfortably clings to their feet. They collect their shoes and head off down the beach, the snack stand in view in the way distance. Besides them and what looks like a couple swimming not too far away, they're alone of the beach, which is fine by him. Sasuke cab only take so many people at once.

"Um," his teammate says, tucking his hands behind his head, "I don't know. Oranges, I guess. Or bananas."

Sasuke kicks a rock with the side of his foot, making it skid across the sand. Then Naruto kicks it followed by Sakura and him again and it becomes a furious battle all the way down the beach towards the snack stand. The sun reaches its highest point in the sky when the draw level to their destination. The couple's gone off somewhere else out of sight range and the man behind the counter of the wooden shack looks half asleep, flipping through a newspaper. There's a menu hanging on the back wall, the letters faded and difficult to read.

"Hello, and welcome to the Seaside Bar," says the guy in monotone. "How may I help you?"

As Sasuke squints up at the menu, Sakura answers, "Do you have smoothies? Like, apples or strawberries or oranges or something?"

When guy puts down the paper and looks at them, his eyes widen, focused on Sasuke's forehead protector. He leans forward and puts his elbows on the table, waiting for the man to say something. Next to him, Sakura taps her foot. "Whoa," he says. "_You're _the three who saved the bridge?"

"Yup!" Naruto says, that stupid grin on his face. Sasuke traces an imperfection on the wood with his finger, bored. "It was -"

"So about those drinks," Sasuke cuts in because he's having a pretty good day for the first time in a while and doesn't need bragging to ruin it. Naruto scowls. "What d'you have?"

"Name any fruit and I can blend it," the guy answers, folding up the newspaper. "I'm Takehiko Ryuu, by the way."

"Uchiha Sasuke," he says. "This is Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura." He hesitated for a moment before asking, "What about apples and raspberries?"

"I thought you didn't like sweet things, Sasuke-kun," Sakura says, staring. He shrugs and avoids eye contact, looking down at the table. His mom used to make it for him when he was kid on really hot days when he was outside for hours. "Anyway, strawberries and bananas, please."

"Make that two!"

Ryuu nods and turns around. "This is on me," he tells them, pull fruit from a refrigerator and putting them on a counter. Sakura and Naruto immediately gush out thank yous before he can say anything himself and he doesn't care either way. Maybe ordering that specific drink wasn't such a good idea. When he places the drinks in front of them, he adds, "Here. Like I said, it's on me. Thanks for saving the economy."

"Eh, it's no big deal," Naruto says. "Thanks, Takehiko-san!"

"Any time, kid. If you're back on the beach, make sure to drop me."

"Sure!"

They share their goodbyes and leave, heading off down the beach again. The couple is back, drawing their names in the sand. Tsunami-san is where she left them and waves as they get nearer. Their drinks came with blue bendy straws and Sasuke manages to feel even more childish than before. He can't remember what the ones he had as a kid tasted like, but he pretends like these aren't as good anyway.

It's surprisingly easy.

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So, this accidently turned into something different than I intended, but I guess that's what writing during the final week of a semester causes. Admittedly, I probably could work on this a little more, but I still have another one to write so I figured I better get this one out soon.

ORDER OF NEXT POSTS BY AUTHOR WHO SUGGESTED IT FIRST:

Persian Underground

stillouette

I'll try to be faster this time!


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